Lawsuit says Miley Cyrus stole 'We Can't Stop,' seeks $300 million

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Miley Cyrus was sued for $300 million on Tuesday by a Jamaican songwriter who said the pop singer’s 2013 smash “We Can’t Stop” closely resembles a song he recorded 25 years earlier, and that she is infringing his copyright.

FILE PHOTO: Singer Miley Cyrus performs during the 2018 MusiCares Person of the Year show honoring Fleetwood Mac at Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan, New York, U.S., January 26, 2018. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo

Michael May, who performs as Flourgon, said his 1988 song “We Run Things” has been “a favorite for lovers of reggae music worldwide” since reaching No. 1 in his home country, and that about 50 percent of “We Can’t Stop” comes from him.

He accused Cyrus and her label RCA Records, owned by Sony Corp, of misappropriating his material, including the phrase “We run things. Things no run we,” which she sings as “We run things. Things don’t run we.”

Representatives for Cyrus, 25, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A spokeswoman for Sony did not immediately respond to a similar request.

May said he sought to protect his work last year with the U.S. Copyright Office, and in November won “formal copyright protection” for all musical arrangements in “We Run Things.”